In the Hospital

After an hour and a half of good sleep, I woke up with a pain in my lower abdomen. I knew immediately what it was because I have had it any number of times before. After having my gall bladder removed in my 50s (my appendix was taken out when I was 16), I started having a lot of gas. Sometimes the gas builds up and my stomach and intestines blow up like a balloon causing a substantial amount of pain. This has gotten worse since I had part of my intestines removed during a successful cancer operation. I had twice previously spent a week in a large hospital, Hamanomachi Hospital where I had had my cancer operation, and where each time they had finally said that they could not determine the cause. On the other occasions when this has happened, I just stayed up burping until the pain disappeared. This usually took about three hours or so, and except for a lack of sleep, I would be fine the next morning.

This time was different, though. The pain was substantially reduced after three hours but then it started to increase again. By five o'clock in the morning it was obvious that I needed to go to the hospital again, where they would insert a tube in my nose and allow the gas to escape.

Since the large hospital is far from my apartment, I had made arrangements to go to the Takeda Hospital the next time it happened. This hospital is one block from my apartment and where I have monthly followup examinations after my cancer operation. My wife called the hospital and the night nurse, after consulting with the doctor, said to come to the hospital.

My previous trips to Hamanomachi Hospital had been by ambulance, but this time we called a taxi for the one block trip. After ringing the doorbell at the back entrance, we waited until the nurse came down from the second floor. She took us up to the second floor and put me in a room.

 Although my room was technically for two people, I was the only one in it during my entire five day stay. The room was clean and quite modern. The bed was old as was some of the furniture but it was very adequate. The small window in the picture looks out on the hall but there was a large window on the opposite wall that provides a view of the tree lined street and the mountains beyond.

Eventually the doctor came. It turned out to the be the father of my regular doctor who was away giving a lecture at a medical conference. The father had started this hospital 40 years ago but now only worked when his son was not available. He checked me out and after I said had previously had the pain relieved by a tube through my nose and into my stomach, he had the nurse get the necessary equipment and inserted a plastic tube. I felt like an aquarium but the pain was soon gone.

Later in the morning I was given a number of tests, including blood tests and x-rays. The son, my regular doctor, stopped by to see me during the late afternoon. They put me on intravenous feeding for two days and then 1400 calorie diet. I lost almost 3 kilograms, which I hope I can keep off now that I am back home. When the test results came back, there was no evidence of what caused the gas but some definite irregularities. The reason for the pain was obvious, the gas, but they could find no particular reason for the gas. My kidneys were not functioning properly according to the blood tests but x-rays and the ultrasonic scanner showed no evidence of any problem. Also one of the markers for cancer came back positive but a second marker was unchanged, so it probably is not another tumor.

By the second day, I felt fine and was ready to go home but the doctor wanted to keep me under observation for a bit longer so he kept me for five days altogether. I used the time to read six novels and a manual on my Kindle, listen to some podcasts on my iPod, and walk in the hall ways for 40 minutes a day.

Since Japan has universal socialized medical insurance, my stay including tests, medicine, doctors, and room and board cost me just a little over US$200. We also have some additional private insurance and may eventual get about half of that as a refund.

I am now home and except for being very tired feeling okay. I expect to have some more tests next week but will be able to have them on an outpatient basis.

In my next blog, I will describe the hospital and its operations in more detail. It seems to be quite typical of small hospitals in Japan.

Go Tournaments

During the last two days I participated in two different go tournaments. This shows the first of the two just before we started. It was held in another town and three of us, the three students in my Friday go class, went together. One of the other students drove. The prefecture sponsored the event so we only had to pay 1,000 yen (about US$10). We were given lunch and there were many prizes and special awards.

I lost my first game to a very strong player who is ranked one step above me. Then I beat another player who was also ranked one step above me. My next opponent was someone I knew. He is in my Wednesday go club. I beat him regularly at the club and was far, far ahead in this game when I made a huge mistake. I knew that I had to make a specific move, but actually forgot to make it, costing me the game. The final score was 31 to 14 and the mistake I made was worth 80 points. I should have won 94 to 31. I was so mentally upset by this lapse that my final game was also a disaster. However, someone came over and asked me not to leave until the awards ceremony was over, however, I was not going to leave because the man who drove us to the tournament came in second in our group.

There 100 or so participants were divide into six groups by skill level (the three of us were in the lowest) and there were first, second, and third places prizes awarded, a certificate, a small plaque, and bags of rice. Once all the competitive prizes were given out. They had a series of special awards. As is usual in competitions for the elderly, there was an award for the oldest competitor. Actually there were two awards, one for the oldest male and one for the oldest female. They got certificates and some rice. Then, they had what they called Madonna Awards. These were for the other three women who competed in the otherwise all male event. Finally, the called me to the front and gave me a special award. They did not say what it was for but it was obviously because I was the only foreigner there. I got two kilograms of rice and a very nice 750 milliliter thermos bottle. In spite of my 1-win and 3-loss record and my terrible play in the third game, it was a very successful day and I actually enjoyed myself.

The next day I played in a neighborhood club tournament. I again had a 1 and 3 record, but I played much better, losing my first game by 4 points and another by only 1.5 points. This time it was free and again lunch was served, a box lunch just like the day before.

The various results showed that the handicapping systems works extremely well. Two of the strongest players were unable to get even a single win and my teacher only one two games.

I love old buildings

This is a typical street view in the neighborhood where I live. The blue building on the left is a commercial site that houses a company. In the middle is their parking lot. There is no parking on the streets so companies and public sides must have their own parking lots. The building in the distance is the most interesting. It is an old Japanese style structure that in the past must have been the home of a wealthy rice farmer. Until less than 30 years ago this whole area was covered by rice paddies. I've seen aerial photos and there was nothing here except extensive paddies and an occasional house.

The room on the second floor must be very small and was probably built to allow the occupants an unrestricted view of their paddies. If I lived there, I would turn it into a study by adding a desk and bookshelves. Even now, it would be a nice place to work. The other interesting feature is on the right end of the building. They have added a modern-looking wall and an entrance. I did not find a location from which I could get a picture of it, but from what little I could see, the building must now be being used by some sort of company. I assume that this is because anyone who did business with the company would know where it is and others would have no reason to go there.

Gardens and Stones

I've mentioned the gardens that people have around their homes, especially the richer people. In order to have a Japanese style garden, you need to have professional gardeners come at least twice a year to trim and care for the trees and bushes. This picture shows the garden that greets you when you enter the driveway of this rich person's home. You can just see the roof of the building behind the trees.

Another feature of Japanese gardens are large stones that are used as part of the landscaping. Here they are used as a base for the concrete block wall that surrounds the property and as a retaining wall to keep the dirt in the garden from encroaching on the driveway.

 Stones are very important in Japan. This one is beside the road and a little bridge has been built over the canal so that people can get to it. There is a low concrete block wall separating this apparently public property from the surrounding private property. Usually large stones like this have some words engraved on one surface, usually something about the local history or something religious, Buddhist or Shinto. I crossed the bridge and looked carefully at the face of this boulder. There were some indentations but I could not determine whether they were Chinese characters that had been weathered so much that they disappeared or just natural markings. I searched around the area but there was no sign to tell visitors like me something about the stone.